TY - JOUR
T1 - Facile synthesis of pH-sensitive germanium nanocrystals with high quantum yield for intracellular acidic compartment imaging
AU - Li, Feng
AU - Wang, Jing
AU - Sun, Shuqing
AU - Wang, Hai
AU - Tang, Zhiyong
AU - Nie, Guangjun
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the grants from National Basic Research Plan of China (MoST 973 Program 2012CB934004, 2010CB933601), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31325010 and 21273126) and Open Research Fund Program of the State Key Laboratory of Low‐Dimensional Quantum Physics (KF201311). The authors thank Prof Xiaohui Qiu and Yingying Xu, from NCNST, for their help for time‐resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy measurement.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
PY - 2015/4/24
Y1 - 2015/4/24
N2 - A green-light emitting germanium nanocrystal-based biosensor to monitor lysosomal pH changes is developed. The Ge nanocrystals are synthesized in an aqueous solution with a significantly enhanced photoluminescence quantum yield of 26%. This synthesis involves a facile solution based route which avoided the use of toxic or environmentally unfriendly agents. Importantly, the photoluminescence intensity of the synthesized Ge nanocrystals is particularly sensitive to changes in pH between 5 and 6. When incubated with cultured cells, the nanocrystals are internalized and subsequently translocated via the lysosomal pathway, and the Ge nanocrystals' fluorescence are greatly enhanced, even when the lysosomal pH is only slightly increased. These results reveal that the Ge nanocrystals possess high pH sensitivity compared to a commercially available dye, LysoSensor Green DND-189. The fluorescent properties of the Ge nanocrystals are demonstrated to be dependent on both the crystal form and their surface chemistry. The superior fluorescence properties and bioapplicability of the Ge nanocrystals makes them a promising intracellular bioimaging probe for monitoring various pH-sensitive processes in cells. A green germanium-based fluorescence biosensor to monitor lysosomal pH changes is developed using a one-step green chemistry strategy in an aqueous solution. The superior pH sensitive fluorescence properties and bioapplicability of Ge nanocrystals render them a promising intracellular bioimaging probe for monitoring various pH sensitive processes in cells.
AB - A green-light emitting germanium nanocrystal-based biosensor to monitor lysosomal pH changes is developed. The Ge nanocrystals are synthesized in an aqueous solution with a significantly enhanced photoluminescence quantum yield of 26%. This synthesis involves a facile solution based route which avoided the use of toxic or environmentally unfriendly agents. Importantly, the photoluminescence intensity of the synthesized Ge nanocrystals is particularly sensitive to changes in pH between 5 and 6. When incubated with cultured cells, the nanocrystals are internalized and subsequently translocated via the lysosomal pathway, and the Ge nanocrystals' fluorescence are greatly enhanced, even when the lysosomal pH is only slightly increased. These results reveal that the Ge nanocrystals possess high pH sensitivity compared to a commercially available dye, LysoSensor Green DND-189. The fluorescent properties of the Ge nanocrystals are demonstrated to be dependent on both the crystal form and their surface chemistry. The superior fluorescence properties and bioapplicability of the Ge nanocrystals makes them a promising intracellular bioimaging probe for monitoring various pH-sensitive processes in cells. A green germanium-based fluorescence biosensor to monitor lysosomal pH changes is developed using a one-step green chemistry strategy in an aqueous solution. The superior pH sensitive fluorescence properties and bioapplicability of Ge nanocrystals render them a promising intracellular bioimaging probe for monitoring various pH sensitive processes in cells.
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U2 - 10.1002/smll.201402743
DO - 10.1002/smll.201402743
M3 - Article
C2 - 25641905
AN - SCOPUS:84928005043
SN - 1613-6810
VL - 11
SP - 1954
EP - 1961
JO - Small
JF - Small
IS - 16
ER -